fiendsreachfandomcom-20200213-history
Warlock
In the spires of Caeth Shaeras powerful magic is learned according to ridgid theory. This isn’t for everyone though. Instead of being subjected to the high standards of society that’s required in those towers of the elven high mages, the Warlock seaks power from a more direct source. The Warlock makes a bargain with a powerful entity. Oftentimes these patrons are powerful outsiders, creatures on the scale of quasi-deities, but never full blown divine powers. Their bargains often offer a great deal of freedom with a great deal of power, but never without an equally great cost. This power is infused into a Warlock’s soul and cannot be stripped away by their patrons after the deal is made. For this reason, patrons will be very careful when selecting their Warlocks, and are often quick to exact vengeance on ex-Warlocks to make examples of what it means to cross them. class is heavily inspired by the 3.5 Wizards of the Coast class presented in Complete Arcane, and is an attempt to convert it to Pathfinder for the Fiend's Reach Living World Campaign Patrons and Pacts: Warlocks make pacts with powerful entities. These outsiders are never full blown deities, but fall into the realm of quasi-deities: Archdevils, Demon Lords, Harbingers, Eldest, or Great Old Ones. How and why a patron seeks out its Warlock varies by patron, and is rarely ever known. Unlike clerics who come together in churches, warlocks rarely align themselves with others of the same patron. Often times even a warlock will be distrustful of other warlocks pactbound by the same patron. It is not rare that a patron will task their warlocks with the duty of finding another ‘assets’ that may stray. The pacts that a Warlock makes can vary as much as the patron (and often the same patron will strike a different deal with different warlocks). Some sell their soul, others spend nearly all their time performing tasks for their patrons. The pact will almost always seem too good to be true, often because they are. Most warlocks make their pacts in desperate circumstances, or without fully understanding the deal that they’re making. They usually only discover the extent of their agreement months, if not years after the proverbial ink has long dried. Role: Warlocks fill a similar role to traditional spellcasters. They exchange versatility for insane endurance, even more so than a sorcerer. They are experts at understanding and utilizing magic items as well as creating magical effects all day. Their powerful calling card can often fill a role similar to that of a kineticist or archer. Alignment: A Warlock’s alignment usually closely matches that of their patron. As such, they are rarely both lawful and good. Hit Dice: d8 Parent Classes: Kineticist and Witch Class Skills The Warlock’s class skills are Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha). Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier Warlock ''' Weapon and Armor Proficiency Warlocks are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor, but not shields. Pact Warlocks make a pact with an otherworldly being for power. This pact can come in a variety of forms but comes in three general forms: * '''Soul Pact: The Warlock’s soul is given over to the patron upon death. This makes it increasingly difficult to bring the Warlock back from the dead. Any spellcaster who attempts to bring the character back from the dead must attempt a caster level check (DC = 10 + the slain character’s Hit Dice). Success means the spell functions as normal, while failure means the spell fails and cannot be attempted again for 24 hours. Warlocks with the same patron, however, can raise the slain character normally, without a check, assuming they otherwise have the means. Upon reaching level 7, the Warlock becomes even more ensnared by his deal. He cannot be brought back by anything short of resurrection. Upon reaching level 14 he cannot be brought back by resurrection, instead requiring true resurrection. Finally, by reaching level 20, a wish or miracle is required (with the caster level check noted above) to temporarily free the soul of the Warlock, allowing the character to be resurrected normally. * Service Pact: The Warlock must perform regular services for their patron. This might not be particularly dangerous or difficult, but it takes time. Each month the Warlock must devote 1 day per Warlock level towards furthering their patron’s agenda. This time need not be taken all at once, and can be broken up over multiple days, so long as the requirement per month is met. * Ban Pact: The Warlock has a certain set of actions that they are banned from performing. At 7th, 14th, and 20th level the Warlock selects an additional ban. The following are examples of bans that are available to the Warlock to select: ** The Warlock cannot strike first. He cannot attack creatures until he is first attacked by that creature. ** The Warlock cannot speak truths. This functions as the Vow of Lies (but does not grant ki). ** The Warlock cannot cast spells, spell-like abilities, or use magic items created with spells of a particular spell school. ** The Warlock cannot let himself be seen. He must always attempt to use Stealth or Disguise. If he believes that he has been spotted, he must immediately attempt to hide again. ** The Warlock cannot trust others. He must always attempt to resist spells and other beneficial effects if he is aware of the effect (except raise dead and other similar spells). He can never take the Aid Another action except for actions to aid his familiar, summoned creatures, or other similarly subservient creature. Once a Pact is chosen, it cannot be changed except via another warlock’s Recruitment (see below). The Pact is a dangerous thing that fundamentally chafes against some moral codes. As such, merely having a Pact is a violation of the Paladin’s Oath. Patron Warlocks make their pacts with a powerful outsider. This quasi-divine entity bestows him with powerful abilities that warp his very soul. Each patron-warlock relationship is unique, and even two warlocks who share the same patron will often find themselves in very different circumstances. The different patrons offer each warlock something unique to their warlocks. Each patron falls within a general category which has a list of invocations that they offer their warlocks, adding to the list of those available to the warlock. He must otherwise meet the prerequisites of these invocations to select them. The categories of patrons are: Eldest, the fey lords and most powerful residents of the First world; Archdevils, the rulers of Hell; Harbingers, truly powerful daemons; Demon Lords, powerful and unique demons that rule their own layer of the Abyss; Protean Lords, the most powerful form of protean spawned by the Maelstrom; and Great Old Ones, priests and heralds of their alien Outer Gods. Once a Patron has been selected, it cannot be changed, except via Recruitment by another warlock. If this happens, the warlock who changes his patron is immediately stripped of any Invocation that was exclusive to their previous patron, replacing them with Invocations of the same level. In spite of their quasi-divine nature, the abilities bestowed to a warlock are considered arcane (for instance, an eldritch blast cannot be fired into a source severance suppressing arcane magic). The base available patrons are included on the following pages: Archdevils, Demon Lords, Eldest, Great Old Ones, Harbingers, Protean Lords. The Yharnam Patch also introduced Annalise, Queen of the Vilebloods, as a patron option. Eldritch Blast (Sp) The first thing that every Warlock receives from their pact with their patron is the Eldritch Blast. This spell-like ability comes in many different forms, usually a combination of the patron’s themes, and the warlock’s personality. It always takes the form of some kind of ray, beam, or other ranged projectile though. The warlock can make a ranged touch attack against a target within 30 feet that deals 1d6 + the Warlock’s Charisma modifier damage. Unless modified by Invocations (see below), this attack does not allow a saving throw, does allows for spell resistance, and is an evocation spell like ability with a spell level equal to ½ the Warlock’s class level (maximum spell level 9th). His caster level is equal to his Warlock level. At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the Eldritch Blast’s damage increases by an additional 1d6, to a maximum of 10d6 + the Warlock’s Charisma Modifier at level 19. Eldritch blasts count as a weapon, the same type of weapon as Kinetic blasts, for the purpose of feats such as Weapon Focus. The warlock is never considered to be wielding or gripping the eldritch blast (regardless of effects from shape invocations; see Invocations), and he can’t use Vital Strike feats with eldritch blasts. Invocations (Sp) At 2nd level a Warlock learns their first Invocation. Unlike normal spellcasters, warlocks know only a handful of spells, but they can use them at will. Each Invocation has a level, which is the spell-like ability’s effective spell level. A Warlock must be at least twice the level of the Invocation before he can select it. Any saving throw allowed by an Invocation is equal to 10 + ½ the Warlock’s Level + the Warlock’s Cha modifier and his caster level is equal to his Warlock level. Shape Invocations and Essence Invocations are a special type of invocation that modify the warlock’s Eldritch Blast. Shape Invocations modify the shape of the blast, either by extending the range, or by turning it into an area effect. An Eldritch Blast can only be modified by one Shape Invocation at a time. Essence Invocations instead change the essential nature of the blast. This may change the damage type, or add on additional effects. Like Shape Invocations, only one Essence Invocation can modify a given Eldritch Blast. Both a Shape and Essence Invocation can be used on the same Eldritch Blast though. At 4th level, and every even level thereafter, a Warlock learns another invocation. Warlock Invocations can be found here. Magical Item Skill (Ex) At 2nd level, a warlock’s magical soul gives him a greater capability to trick magic items. He adds ½ his warlock level to Use Magic Device checks. See Magic (Sp) At 2nd level, the magical energies infused into a warlock’s soul attunes them towards other magic. This is an extra invocation that allows him to use detect magic at will as a spell-like ability. When examining the aura of a magic item in this way, he may use Use Magic Device in place of Spellcraft. Eldritch Defense (Su) At 2nd level, a warlock gains supernatural resilience from his patron. He gains a bonus equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) on all Saving Throws. At 14th level he can substitute his Charisma in place of Dexterity for calculating AC. Deceive Item (Su) At 5th level, the warlock becomes a master of magic items and can take 10 on Use Magic Device skill checks so long as he has ranks in Use Magic Device. In addition, he can use Skill Unlocks with Use Magic Device so long as he has sufficient ranks. Recruitment (Sp) At 10th level, the warlock gains enough trust with their patron to begin recruiting others to their cause. The warlock can cast atonement as a spell-like ability at will. He cannot use this to restore cleric or druid spell powers, nor can he restore lost class features for classes with an alignment restriction that does not match his patron’s alignment. If the use of atonement would require the warlock to pay 2,500 gp in rare incense and offerings, instead the target of the atonement must accept a pact with the warlock’s patron. This can allow a non-warlock to immediately retrain one level of an existing class into Warlock, selecting the same patron as the warlock who cast this. If used on an ex-warlock, this allows the ex-warlock to gain the patron of warlock who is casting this spell, allowing him to begin taking levels in warlock again. If the ex-warlock intentionally broke their pact, then they are subject to a second pact for 1 month (this second pact cannot be one that he already took, nor can it be the Soul Pact). Imbue Item (Su) At 12th level, the warlock’s innate understanding of magic items allows him to create magic items of his own. He may use Use Magic Device in place of Spellcraft to create magic items by increasing the DC by +5 for items created with arcane spells, by +10 for items created with psychic spells, and by +15 for items created with divine spells. He can use his Invocations or Eldritch Blast to fulfill the spell requirements of magic items so long as they replicate the required spell. A GM may allow certain invocations to fulfill the requirements of magic items that fit thematically even if they do not replicate the normal required spell. [Fiend’s Reach Special Rules: The warlock needs to select a spell list to pull from when he selects his first item creation feat as per the rules for magic item crafting in Fiend’s Reach. Unlike normal classes that get a Caster Level, or otherwise qualify for item creation feats, the Warlock must select an Arcane spell list. Upon gaining Imbue Item, warlocks can select a second spell list to be able to craft from. This second spell list can be of any kind (arcane, divine, or psychic).] True Warlock At 20th level the warlock has become a true vessel for his patron’s power. He may apply two shape invocations, or two essence invocations to his Eldritch Blast. He reduces the DC of crafting magic items by 5. Once per day, he may take 20 on a Use Magic Device skill check. Additionally, he can cast wish once per day as a spell-like ability. [Fiend’s Reach Special Rules: The warlock also selects a 3rd spell list from which he can craft magic items.] Ex-Warlocks A warlock can lose their connection with their patron by breaking their pact. A soul pact cannot be broken, even if they are successfully brought back from the dead. A service pact can be broken if the warlock does not take the time required to complete their tasks, and a ban pact can be broken by performing any of the banned actions. If a warlock breaks their pact they become an ex-warlock. They still have access to all class features, but they cannot again take levels in the warlock class until they receive a Recruitment by another warlock (potentially changing their patron). Retaining their powers is not all good though, as a patron who has lost their warlock will oftentimes send agents after the ex-warlock to remind others what it means to cross them. [Fiend’s Reach Special Rules: It can be assumed that an ex-warlock can find an appropriate warlock of the same patron by making a DC 30 Diplomacy check to gather information, or of a random patron by making a DC 20 check.] Prestige Classing with Warlock As with any prestige class that advances spell casting, a warlock increases his eldritch blast damage, gains new invocations, and increases his caster level. '''Favored Class Bonuses '''Dwarf Add ⅓ point of damage to Caustic Eldritch Blasts and Invocations that deal acid damage. Elf Add ¼ to the warlock’s caster level when determining the effects of the patron exclusive invocations. Faery Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on an Eldest Invocation. Gnome Gain a +½ bonus on Use Magic Device checks. Gnome Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on an Eldest Invocation. Half-Elf Gain ⅙ of an Extra Invocation feat. Half-Orc Add ⅓ point of damage to Baelfire Eldritch Blast and Invocations that deal fire damage. Halfling Add ¼ to the warlock’s caster level when determining the effects of the patron exclusive invocations. Houri Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on an Eldest Invocation. Changeling Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on a Harbinger Invocation. Kin’alei Gain ⅙ of an Extra Invocation feat. Tiefling Add +¼ to the DC of curse invocations. Tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on a Harbinger Invocation. Tiefling (Demon-Spawn) Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on a Demon Lord Invocation. Tiefling (Devil-Spawn) Gain ⅕ of an Extra Invocation feat. This feat must be spent on an Archdevil Invocation. Category:Class Category:Elven High Magic Update